Some West Virginia businesses have implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees. While the West Virginia COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act (W. Va. Code § 55-19-1 through § 55-19-9) protects people, businesses, and entities from some COVID-19 related claims, the Act does not address whether employees who suffer an injury from a COVID-19 vaccine mandated by their employers may bring a workers' compensation claim ...
On Monday, November 1, 2021, CNBC reported the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") completed its review of OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") that will require larger employers to either adopt a policy for mandatory employee vaccinations or an alternative allowing weekly testing and masking for all unvaccinated employees. OMB approval of the ETS is the last step prior to finalizing the rule and its publication in the Federal Register ...
On October 29, 2021, the following resolutions were published in the Official Gazette: Exempt Resolution No. 1,080 of the Undersecretary of Public Health amending Exempt Resolution No. 994, of 2021, of the Ministry of Health, which establishes the fourth Step-by-Step Plan; and Exempt Resolution No. 1,079 of the Undersecretary of Public Health, which amends Exempt Resolution No. 672, of 2021, of the Ministry of Health, which establishes the Protected Borders Plan ...
With COP26 now upon us, all eyes are on Glasgow! As we continue to explore the various routes to net zero, there is no doubt that the Scottish Government's recently published "Heat in Buildings Strategy" will have a key play to role to play. Never in recent history has there been so much focus on how we use space that was once the reserve of our personal and family lives for working…but also on how our homes work for us ...
About a year ago, on Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules implementing sweeping changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute regulations. For the most part, those new rules went into effect on Jan. 19, 2021 ...
Article by Anne Coulon, Regional Legal Adviser, DFDL Thailand A stable, autonomous judiciary naturally commands the trust of a nation’s citizenry while inspiring confidence and peace-of-mind among foreign actors: this is crucial in terms of their investments and commercial activities, that they will receive fair and equal treatment whenever certain dealings come into dispute when doing business in the host country ...
When a patent is issued under the seal of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, it is signed by the Director of the USPTO or an Office official. The patent contains a grant to the patentee, and a printed copy of the specification and drawing is annexed to the patent and forms a part of it ...
On 13 October 2021, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued an Announcement on the Participation of Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors and RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors in Financial Derivatives Transactions (Announcement, available here in Chinese) ...
On 30 September 2021, the Government passed into law the Securities and Futures (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 and the Limited Partnership Fund and Business Registration Legislation (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 (the Ordinances). These new laws will enable foreign investment funds to be re-domiciled and registered in Hong Kong as open-ended fund companies (OFCs) or limited partnership funds (LPFs). The Ordinances will come into effect on 1 November 2021 ...
Overview On 15 October 2021, the New Law on Investment (“New Investment Law”) was promulgated, which aims to provide a comprehensive, transparent and predictable legal framework to attract both domestic and foreign investment. The New Investment Law replaces the existing 1994 Law on Investment and the 2003 Law on the Amendment to the Law on Investment (“Former Investment Law”) from its promulgation date (15 October 2021) ...
Kudun and Partners represented Thammasat University with the preparation of the licensing agreement with Antitoxin GmbH, a German company founded in 1966 and specializes in the development of certified blood typing reagents for automated and manual applications ...
Cambodia’s long-awaited Competition Law (“Law”) was signed into law by the King on 5 October 2021. While the Law has been enacted, the principal regulator, the Cambodia Competition Commission (“CCC”) has not yet been appointed and it is not clear how the Law will be enforced prior to a) such appointment and b) the issue of required regulatory instruments and decisions ...
The only thing crystal clear about health care price transparency requirements at the moment is that the government will continue implementing new price transparency laws, regulations, and rules ...
Key Points Skilled nursing facilities must ensure their medical directors are certified within five years of the date of hire or by January 1, 2027, for medical directors already working in a SNF SNFs must report medical director certification status to CDPH by June 30, 2022 SNFs must report medical director changes to CDPH within 10 days of the change Effective January 1, 2022, a skilled nursing facility (SNF) will be prohibited from contracting with a medical director unless
Two articles (Newsweek and Fierce Biotech) describe the new lawsuit by the Henrietta Lacks Estate surrounding the HeLa cell line. The claim is "unjust enrichment," a difficult claim to win, but one that seems to fit this case, if any does. If you don't know this story, I recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It is the true story of an apparently wonderful woman, Ms ...
Under the patent statute, any person who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent,” subject to the conditions and requirements of the law. The word “process” is defined by law as a process, act, or method, and primarily includes industrial or technical processes. The term “machine” used in the statute is self-explanatory ...
Companies that have imports from China subject to List 3 and List 4a Section 301 tariffs may still have an opportunity to protect their right to seek a refund from the U.S. Government. To do so, a company would need to file a lawsuit in the Court of International Trade (CIT) challenging the List 3 and/or List 4a tariffs as unauthorized under the Trade Act of 1974 and implemented in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act ...
Twenty months in, Covid-19 continues to demand that we exercise flexibility and adaptation as it identifies winners and losers. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the practice of law and businesses that are involved in, or contemplating, litigation. Those who have been involved in litigation know that it can be expensive in “normal” times. Here are three ways the pandemic has impacted the costs associated with litigation. Time to trial ...
In the Matter of the X Trusts [2021] SC (Bda) 72 Civ (7 September 2021) Assistant Justice Dr Ian R.C. Kawaley of the Supreme Court of Bermuda has handed down significant guidance to assist in the understanding of this important relationship in offshore trusts ...
In our fourth article on whistleblowing claims we focus on the need, in sensitive situations where concerns of serious (and perhaps even criminal) wrongdoing are raised, for the complaint to be dealt with confidentially and/or anonymously where possible ...
On September 17, 2021, the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (“HKEX”) published a consultation paper (the “Consultation Paper”) to publicly seek market opinions on draft amendments to the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on the Exchange (the “Listing Rules”). The amendments aim to promote and implement a listing regime for special purpose acquisition companies (“SPACs”) in Hong Kong ...
October 2021 Ordinances n°2021-1192 and 2021-1193 of September 15, 2021, respectively reforming security law and amending Book VI of the French Commercial Code, implement mandates of the PACTE Law of May 22, 2019[1] to: modernize security law[2], improve the articulation of security law with collective proceedings law[3] and transpose the (EU) Directive 2019/1023 of June 20, 2019[4], known as the "Restructuring and Insolvency Directive"[5] ...
Key Points Governor Newsom vetoed AB 339. AB 361 will continue to operate as currently construed. On October 7, 2021, Governor Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 339 (Lee), a bill aimed at addressing Brown Act teleconferencing requirements for large public entities. AB 339 sought to add special rules for meetings of city councils or county board of supervisors that govern jurisdictions containing at least 250,000 people ...
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) have both issued new Class Deviations from the FARs that implement Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (i.e., the federal contractor vaccine mandate) ...
